JIMMY BARRY …”FEROCIOUS LITTLE TIGER”
By Tracy Callis

Jimmy Barry was a scrappy,
natural-born boxer who was clever, quick, and agile. He was an
explosive, two-handed puncher and an excellent workman who usually
fought men heavier than himself.

Barry utilized a fighting
style that was careful but aggressive. Afraid of no man, he was quick to
attack openings with fast hands and sharp firepower. He was also a
clever ring general like the "Nonpareil" Jack Dempsey. It was said that
as an infant “the only time he stopped swinging his tiny fists was when
he was asleep” (Mastro 1943).

Rather frail looking in
appearance, Jimmy could deliver pile-driving smashes with either hand
despite his lack of heft. Those who saw Barry in action called him a
"Wonder." He was also an outstanding handball player and a brother of
Bill Barry, who reportedly once fought the “Nonpareil”. Haldane (1967 p 198) records that
Barry “must have been a first-class little craftsman.”

Jimmy was never beaten, never
knocked out. Barry, Jack McAuliffe, Young Mitchell, and Rocky Marciano
were the only fighters to ever retire with an “official” unbeaten
professional record.

Barry learned his boxing in
Chicago from Harry Gilmore, former Lightweight Champion of Canada, who
was known for his sensational fight against Lightweight great, Jack
McAuliffe. Harry often said, “Teaching Barry to box was like teaching a
duck to swim” (Mastro, 1943).

Incidentally, ring notables
Frank Neil, Tommy White, Billy Stift, and Frank Garrard were also
mentored by the clever Gilmore. Said the teacher about Barry, “Of the
little fellows who made Chicago their home, I think little Jimmy Barry
was the greatest. Although he weighed about 105 pounds, he would fight
anyone” (see The Ring, Mar 1925 p 29).

Haldane
(1967 p 198) wrote that Barry was “scarcely more than what today would
be called a Fly-weight.” McCallum (1975 p 289) wrote that Barry “looked
as if he belonged in a horse race, not in a prize ring. If he’d been any
tinier, he been invisible.” He went on to say, “Despite his cut-rate
size, he never lost a fight in a career stretching from 1891 to 1900.
Packing a trip-hammer punch, 39 of his 59 pro wins ended in a knockout.”

Like
Terry McGovern and Henry Armstrong in later years, Barry, the “Little
Tiger”, came to fight. Jimmy was a “rusher par excellence, wielding two
fists liberally loaded with dynamite, he was also a boxer and ring
general of proven skill and intelligence, that all too rare
combination of slugger and scientist” (The Ring, Sep 1943 p
6). Clarence Gillespie, writing about defensive skills, named Barry as
the #2 Bantam ever in the ability to protect himself, behind only George
Dixon (The Ring, Jun 1932 p 6).

Barry was
steady and persistent in applying pressure and was quick to seize the
opportunity to attack. When he got the “baby in the cradle”, he could
“rock” it !!! He readily fired away with a two-handed barrage of stiff
punches but was not a “wide-open” attacker who flailed away carelessly
with both fists.

Billy
McCarney, veteran of forty years in boxing and manager of Luther
McCarty, often cited the “extreme cleverness” of Barry (The Ring,
Mar 1926 p 4). Tom McArdle, former matchmaker for New York’s Madison
Square Garden, rated Jimmy as the #3 All-Time hardest, most effective
hitter among Flyweights behind only Jimmy Wilde and Johnny Buff (The
Ring, Oct 1928 p 21). Jack Kofoed, early day writer for The Ring
magazine, rated Barry as the best “finisher” among the Flyweights along
with Jimmy Wilde and Johnny Coulon (The Ring, Aug 1927 p 17).

According
to reports from the old Philadelphia Item newspaper, he tracked
down Pete Shea and smashed him flat 4 times in round 4 before the bout
was stopped. He cornered Joe McGrath in round three and dropped him
three times in the first minute of the round before the fight was
terminated to save McGrath from a slaughter. He “punched holes” in Jimmy
Gorman at New Orleans and made a “chopping block” out of Joe Bertrand,
causing the referee to stop the contest and spare Joe excessive
punishment.

He knocked Casper Leon down in round two and battered him around the
rest of the fight before police intervened to save Casper. The
Chicago Tribune called Barry “a master boxer, literally a ball of
fire” who gave Johnny Connors, the outstanding “future” Bantamweight
Champion of America, an “artistic beating.” It also reported that Jimmy
“made a monkey” out of Jimmy Anthony, the Australian titleholder (Mastro
1943).

Barry claimed the 100-Pound Championship of America following his
knockout win over Jack Levy in 1893. He then claimed the World
Bantamweight Championship in 1894 after knocking out Caper Leon for the
105-Pound Championship of America.

However, his claim as the World Bantamweight Champion was disputed by
the boxing people in England. So, in 1898, Barry went over looking for
fights to solidify his “title.” He was matched with Walter Croot, a
pretty good fighter in his own right.

Two nights before the Barry-Croot bout, John Fleming, stalwart member of
the National Sporting Club of London died. Club members were in a
subdued mood when fight time rolled around so they postponed the
contest. This was a gruesome omen of what was to come when Barry and
Croot collided in the ring two months later.

The Englishman boxed cleverly and gave a good account of himself for a
long while but Jimmy finally solved the puzzle and in round twenty
sailed in and fired several hard lows to the body and head. His foe
tumbled to the floor and struck his head harshly. He was carried from
the ring and eventually died (see Deghy, 1956, pp 147-148).

Johnston (1936 p 351) wrote, “one of Barry’s swings dropped Croot with
such force that he suffered a broken skull and died from the effects of
the blow.”

In his bouts
following the Croot fight, Jimmy pulled his punches and was never the
fighter he was before. His sharp, combination of a paralyzing right to
the heart and vicious left-hook was not to be seen again. Seven of his
nine draws came after the unfortunate death of Croot.

Johnston (1936 p
351) said, “The tragedy almost ruined Jimmy Barry, who was a decent
little fellow.” Bromberg (1958 p 234) wrote, “It could hardly be called
a coincidence that, in his last nine fights, he never again scored a
knockout.” McCallum (1975 p 289) stated, “Barry was haunted by the
tragedy for the rest of his life.” Haldane (1967 p 198) wrote “Barry was
so affected by it that he never quite got over it.”

Barry, himself, said “While it was no fault of mine legally, and I took
the same chances that poor Croot did in the ring, it’s an awful thing to
feel that you killed a man, even if not intentionally. It bothers me a
lot when I’m boxing. I can never lose sight of Croot’s face as he lay
there getting counted out. And, you know, these days, when I get a man
going, I can’t pile in and try to finish him off like I used to. There’s
always that fear that something fatal might happen, pulling me back” (The
Ring, Sep 1943 p 42).

A number of boxing people contend that Harry Harris decisively whipped
Barry in 1899 but was robbed of the win when the bout was called a draw.
But, one must take into account that (1) Barry was late into his career
and (2) he was not the fighter he was before the tragic contest with
Walter Croot. Incidentally, Harris never complained of the decision
because of his great respect for Barry as a fighter.

After retiring from the ring, Jimmy worked in the county clerk’s office
for twenty-five years until his retirement due to bad health. He offered
his services to the war department during World War I and was assigned
to the physical and bayonet training school at Camp Gordon, near
Atlanta.

Charles Mathison, veteran newspaper writer and New York state boxing
judge for many years wrote, “Barry at his best would have been a match
for any bantams of the period following his retirement or of the 118
pounders of the present” (The Ring, May 1928 p 6). On the
“All-Time” scale, Mathison ranked Barry as the #3 Bantamweight below
only George Dixon and Terry McGovern.

DeWitt Van Court, boxing instructor of the Los Angeles AC, ranked Barry
as the #2 All-Time Bantamweight just below George Dixon and just above
Terry McGovern (1926 pp 107 108). According to Van Court, “It is
guesswork to rate these three in order, there is so little to choose.
All three were great. Dixon was perhaps the better boxer of the three,
he also had a hard knockout punch, was perhaps more shifty on his feet
than the others. But Barry and McGovern were aggressive fighters, each
carrying a knockout punch in either hand.“

The Ring
(Sep 1943 p 6) reported “there are many fistic experts of the past who
saw Jimmy Barry in action and have followed the lads of recent years,
who vouch for the statement that Barry had it over everybody in the
bantam division.” Haldane (1967 p 198) stated “it is possible that at
his peak Barry was the best of the little men.”

George Pardy, boxing writer, who saw all of the bantams up to the time
of his article (1934) called Jimmy one of the greatest bantams of
all-time (The Ring, Dec 1934 p 18).

Billy Roche, popular referee during the 1890s and teens rated Barry as
the #1 All-Time Bantamweight. According to Roche, “Jimmy Barry, in my
opinion, was the world’s greatest bantam. He weighed 105 pounds. For his
size and weight, he had a habit of knocking off feathers and
lightweights” (The Ring Sep 1926 p 10).

Jack Curley, boxing and wrestling promoter for forty years, rated Barry
as the All-Time greatest Bantamweight (The Ring, Jun 1926 p 13;
Apr 1932 p 30). At other times, he called Barry, “the greatest champion,
pound-for-pound” (see The Ring, Jul 1934 p 25). Speaking of
Barry, Jack said, “He was the greatest puncher and greatest fighter of
his weight that anybody ever saw, was absolutely game and had no
superior as a `money fighter.’ By which I mean that he was always at his
best in his most important fights, when thousands of dollars were
wagered on him” (The Ring, Apr 1932 p 31).

Jimmy Coffroth, old-time promoter for years, called Barry the All-Time
greatest Flyweight and, later, wrote that Jimmy must have been a “Joe
Gans, Joe Walcott, and Frankie Neil all thrown into one” (The Ring,
Dec 1926 p 9).

R.A. Cunes, writer and leading boxing critic for Australia for over
twenty years, tended to name many non-Americans to his list of the
All-Time best – such as Peter Jackson, Bob Fitzsimmons, Les Darcy, Jem
Driscoll, and Jimmy Wilde. However, he selected Jimmy Barry as the
All-Time greatest Bantamweight (The Ring, Sep 1926 p 12).
According to Cunes, “ [Packey] McFarland, Driscoll, Barry, and Wilde
were four wonderful little fellows and it would be hard to improve on
their standard.”

Jimmy Johnston, President of the National Sports Alliance, named Barry
as the greatest bantamweight of all-time and wrote, “Jimmy Barry was a
great little fighting machine. He whipped the best. He never was
defeated in either limited or finish fights, with bare knuckles or the
gloves and deserves first call among the bantams” (The Ring, May
1926 p 13).

Barry was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000. In
the opinion of this writer, Barry was the #1 All-Time Flyweight - yes,
even better than Jimmy Wilde, the “Mighty Atom”, who carried a
super-human punch. Barry was a better boxer, hit with stiff, sharp, fast
punches, was not as “open” to getting hit as was Wilde, and possessed a
tougher chin. This writer also rates Jimmy as the #3 All-Time
Bantamweight behind only Terry McGovern and Eder Jofre.